Spatial Open Data for Monitoring Risks and Preserving Archaeological Areas and Landscape: Case Studies at Kom el Shoqafa, Egypt and Shush, Iran (original) (raw)
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Integration of remote sensing and GIS for archaeological investigations
International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2009
The western hinterland of the modern city of Istanbul contains some of the most remarkable monuments of ancient and medieval hydraulic engineering dating from the fourth to the twelfth centuries AD, including lines of aqueduct channels and bridges extending up to 336 km to the west of the modern city. Until recently fieldwork has been limited and only within the last two decades have there been serious attempts to map the complexity of the monuments and water lines. The dense forest which covers much of the northern hills of Thrace is a major factor restricting fieldwork and survey, yet at the same time the woodland ensures the preservation of much of the system. Two previous studies of the water supply system have been able to identify the major spring sources, to map the line of the water supply channels and to record and locate over sixty bridges which are a key component of the system. However these studies have been constrained as they are not able to integrate adequately this survey data. The new research programme between Istanbul Technical University (ITU) and Edinburgh University commenced in 2007 and includes all existing GPS data and archaeological observations to be incorporated as part of a modern GIS combining the topographical and hydraulic information available from 1:25 000 digital maps with a wide range of high and medium resolution remotely sensed data. Further surface GPS based archaeological survey has been undertaken over the past two years and has been able document a significant number of the extant channels and bridges. Using high resolution IKONOS images and orthophotos it has been possible to create a textured land surface of forests and fields for the Thracian digital surface model (DSM) in which to situate the various monuments and channels of the water supply system. This digital resource is now capable of providing the basis for future archaeological documentation and analysis and two case studies are given. Integrated with multi-spectral data this gives the opportunity to view the system in its wider setting and also to identify major urban and landscape changes impacting on the long-term conservation and management of the ancient remains.
Applications of GIS and Remote Sensing in Cultural Heritage Management
2014
Cultural heritage defines pre-historical and historical objects, buildings, and social complexes that show evidence of human manipulation of the environment. The field of cultural heritage management strives to identify, interpret, and protect these artifacts and sites. GIS and remote sensing technologies have made important contributions to the field of cultural heritage management in the last few decades. GIS technologies allow managers to predict the location of new sites through overlay analysis, while novel combinations of remote sensors are allowing archaeologists to find subterranean features and determine the historical extent of known sites. Once these sites have been identified, GIS and remote sensing technologies can help detect biodeteriogens and other hazards or analyze the spatial uses of the site. While aerial photographs have been helpful in identifying archaeological features and sites, different remote sensing technologies have recently been applied to this pursuit. Remote sensors can detect features through thick foliage and sometimes through thin layers of surface sedimentation. Chase et al. used LiDAR to locate Mayan structures in the Belizean jungle that were otherwise invisible through thick vegetation (2011). Similarly, Evans et al. used LiDAR to map areas surrounding the medieval urban center of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and discovered evidence of human manipulation of the environment that indicated that the city was much larger, more populous, and more developed than previously understood (2013). Rowlands and Sarris used multi-and hyper-spectral sensors to detect shallow subterranean chemical and physical anomalies to indicate ideal areas archaeological excavations (2007). In these cases, remote sensing changed the understanding of site extent, which can impact how historians and archaeologists interpret past civilizations. While remote sensing can identify archaeological remains through energy patterns, GIS overlay analysis can compare site qualities to help predict where archaeological sites may be. In Southeastern Norway, Fry et al. combined digital elevation data with information on the soil, aspect angle, land use, and other features of known grave sites to generate a model to predict where other grave sites were most likely to be located (2004). In their work in Northern Italy, Campana and Francovich were able to greatly enhance the archaeological record of the area by digitizing Ikonos-2 images, performing overlay analysis in GIS, and georeferencing these locations with GPS. While these technologies have contributed to archaeological finds, data quality and quantity can limit predictive location modeling, especially in rural or rugged areas (Fry et al., 2004). Once cultural heritage sites have been located, if the management plan calls for preservation of these sites, remote sensing and GIS also have applications in management
Archaeological site monitoring and risk assessment using remote sensing technologies and GIS
A Research Agenda for Heritage Planning, 2021
Archaeological heritage includes all the moveable objects, structures, earthworks, monuments and developed sites created, transformed and left by people through time, whether located on land or under water; both preserved standing above the soil surface and still buried (see Valletta 1992). All this legacy, together with all other heritage resources, is nowadays at risk, endangered by different natural and anthropogenic factors that can cause the physical degradation and destruction of ecofacts and materials. Being made of matter and depending on their environmental setting, any feature interacts with atmospheric and soil processes-natural or human-induced-that can lead to the degradation of materials and to other types of damage to ancient remains. The effects of those processes are today exacerbated by the action of climate change, which can contribute to accelerating them and, therefore, to the damaging of standing and buried archaeological features (UNESCO 2007; also Caneva et al. 1991; Sabbioni et al. 2010).
12 Archaeological site monitoring and risk assessment using remote sensing technologies and GIS
A Research Agenda for Heritage Planning. Perspectives from Europe, 2021
Archaeological heritage includes all the moveable objects, structures, earthworks, monuments and developed sites created, transformed and left by people through time, whether located on land or under water; both preserved standing above the soil surface and still buried (see Valletta 1992). All this legacy, together with all other heritage resources, is nowadays at risk, endangered by different natural and anthropogenic factors that can cause the physical degradation and destruction of ecofacts and materials. Being made of matter and depending on their environmental setting, any feature interacts with atmospheric and soil processes-natural or human-induced-that can lead to the degradation of materials and to other types of damage to ancient remains. The effects of those processes are today exacerbated by the action of climate change, which can contribute to accelerating them and, therefore, to the damaging of standing and buried archaeological features (UNESCO 2007; also Caneva et al. 1991; Sabbioni et al. 2010).
CRM & Archaeological Research using Remote Sensing and GIS: Zhouyuan (China) & Lasithi (Greece)
Zhouyuan, the ancient capital of China (B.C1100 to B.C.700), is located at the center of Shaanxi province, covered by farmlands and some modern villages. The continuing archaeological investigations discovered some palace foundations, storage pits and some small tombs, while recent efforts have been focused on locating the foundations of the city walls and the royal tombs. Satellite remote sensing (Landsat TM imagery), aerial photographs and GIS techniques were employed by archaeological research for detection and photogrammetry. Aerial images were used for creating orthomaps, containing information on topography, rivers, roads, modern villages, a.o. to be used as basic background layers for mapping the archaeological sites of the region. Landsat TM images were georeferenced to the orthographic aerial image and combined, they resulted in an image of high ground resolution and wide spectral resolution to be used for interpretation purposes. The above were merged to a GIS, together with an archaeological database containing general information, mainly data and finds of the site, for further analysis.
Remote Sensing, 2017
This paper evaluates the results of a 2016 study examining high-resolution open-source satellite data from 2002-2013 for sites across Egypt that mapped looting and site encroachment. The author features a looted tripartite coffin (now returned to Egypt) to suggest how satellite imagery might narrow down or provide the general provenience of looted objects and their possible site origins. Mapping where looting has occurred, the intensity of the looting, and emerging future threats to sites are important, but there is no established method at present to work backwards from unprovenanced looted items. Through an assessment of when objects enter countries illegally, the time-period of the looted objects, and an analysis of satellite imagery looting data concerning their country of origin, it is possible to suggest a potential provenance for looted objects. This approach shows how satellite data can be integrated into traditional provenance research. This study presents a workflow for how other projects might utilize a similar approach in other countries.
Remote Sensing for Archaeological Heritage Management
masterpiece.dk
Some 40 per cent of Europe is farmed and 47 per cent forested. The future of the majority of Europe's archaeological sites therefore depends on rural land uses that lie outside the spatial planning and development control systems of its various nation states. This volume, produced by the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) and Europae Archaeologiae Consilium (EAC) Joint Working Group on Farming, Forestry and Rural Land Management, examines the challenges posed by agriculture, forestry and other rural land uses in terms of the long-term conservation of Europe's archaeological sites and the management of its historic landscapes.
Airborne and spaceborne remote sensing for archaeological and cultural heritage applications: A review of the century (1907–2017), 2019
Archaeological and cultural heritage (ACH), one of the core carriers of cultural diversity on our planet, has a direct bearing on the sustainable development of mankind. Documenting and protecting ACH is the common responsibility and duty of all humanity. It is governed by UNESCO along with the scientific communities that foster and encourage the use of advanced non-invasive techniques and methods for promoting scientific research into ACH and conservation of ACH sites. The use of remote sensing, a non-destructive tool, is increasingly popular by specialists around the world as it allows fast prospecting and mapping at multiple scales, rapid analysis of multisource datasets, and dynamic monitoring of ACH sites and their surrounding environments. The cost of using remote sensing is lower or even zero in practical applications. In this review, in order to discuss the advantages of airborne and spaceborne remote sensing (ASRS), the principles that make passive (photography, multispectral and hyperspectral) and active (synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and light detection and ranging radar (LiDAR)) imaging techniques suitable for ACH applications are first summarized and pointed out; a review of ASRS and the methodologies used over the past century is then presented together with relevant highlights from well-known research projects. Selected case studies from Mediterranean regions to East Asia illustrate how ASRS can be used effectively to investigate and understand archaeological features at multiple-scales and to monitor and assess the conservation status of cultural heritage sites in the context of sustainable development. An in-depth discussion on the limitations of ASRS and associated remaining challenges is presented along with conclusions and a look at future trends.
Contributions of GIS and Satellite-based Remote Sensing to Landscape Archaeology in the Middle East
Journal of Archaeological Research, 2014
This article explores the coevolution of landscape approaches and geospatial tools in Middle Eastern archaeology. From the first aerial reconnaissance programs, archaeologists recognized the value of a view from above to address overarching human-environmental questions that underpin regional historical narratives. The diversity and density of visible remains in the landscape of the Middle East has required an integrative approach, encompassed in the perspective of landscape as a static artifact, landscape as built features, landscape as a system, and landscape as a dynamic construct, which cuts across modern political boundaries. Recent advances in geospatial tools and datasets have enabled archaeologists to make significant progress on four long-standing questions of how to (1) best document and manage rapidly disappearing ancient landscapes, (2) understand landscape formation processes, (3) identify and interpret economic, environmental, and social influences that result in long-term settlement and land use patterns, and (4) recognize and contextualize the interplay between environment and human agency in the evolution of ancient economies and transformations in socio-organizational complexity.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2019
Landscape reconstructions are subject to multiple filters. Nevertheless, they are the basis for scientific interpretations of the archaeological record. The resulting distribution maps in turn serve to create archaeological maps for the prediction of areas with a high archaeological vulnerability potential. This predictive modelling also leads to the classification of archaeological-free areas. However, the fact that this spatial classification was created on the basis of an archaeological database, which in turn is strongly biased by find densities in modern agglomerations, leads to the potential destruction of archaeological monuments that are located in the invulnerable periphery. Such potential maps can only be sharpened by integrating a large number of different methodical concepts. This article presents the comprehensive combination of satellite remote sensing data, GIS-based landscape analyses and environmental data sets for the construction of a potentially holistic landscape scenario. Only with the highest possible information density of a large-scale study area can interactions in the geographical control factors be identified and conclusions be drawn on archaeological land-use and settlement concepts.